What's happening
In October, city and public safety officials announced a proposal to buy an office complex off MoPac south of downtown to convert into a new joint public safety headquarters.
The update followed years of consideration of updating the deteriorating Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin/Travis County EMS facilities that Mayor Kirk Watson called "crummy, pathetic, dirt sorry." City staff said buying and refurbishing the offices, built in 1999 and 2000, will be a far cheaper option than building a comparable public safety facility from scratch.
"It is an existing office building. It is already built. It does need to be retrofitted to fit the needs of the public safety offices, as any new tenant would have to do," said council member Paige Ellis, whose Southwest Austin district includes the property. "I’m very excited to welcome a public safety headquarters into District 8. I think this is going to be a great opportunity."
The details
The purchase of One and Two Barton Skyway, located at 1501 and 1601 S. MoPac, was authorized by City Council on Oct. 24. The city will now move to buy the four-story buildings with 391,000 square feet of office space, parking garages and other features.
The acquisition, plus design and retrofitting work, will cost $120.5 million. It will be funded through certificates of obligation, or city-issued debt that will impact taxes over the next few years.
The new headquarters will serve as an administrative facility and not a fire, police or EMS station. City staff previously said renovations would begin about six months after closing on the property, with a completion date to be set in the future.
Council member Alison Alter said that, once public safety personnel are eventually relocated, their old headquarters properties around downtown and off US 183 could be used for new revenue-generating city projects.
"Because we will be moving from ... several locations to this one, we will be able then to redevelop those locations which will provide additional funding, potentially, into our system depending on how we decide to move forward, if there are partnership opportunities," she said.
Also of note
The purchase advanced with direction from Alter centered on the environmental impact of the move. Since the plan's announcement this fall, some community members raised concerns with locating a major city office in the more environmentally sensitive West Austin area.
She asked city staff to consider the possibility of involving green infrastructure in building renovations, and upgrades like installing solar panels or other energy-efficient updates. Council member Ryan Alter said city control of the campus should lead to improved outcomes on that land.
"Someone is going to occupy this office building. It exists today," he said. "By the city owning this in an area that is environmentally sensitive and deploying the type of environmental and green infrastructure—whether it is rainwater capture or other things to help protect any kind of runoff or harm to the creek—we are able to better ensure that happening than some third party who doesn’t have that interest, or really, demand from the community."
Alison Alter also asked to hold any funding that would've gone towards repairs at the current APD, AFD and EMS headquarters to invest in other city facilities.
"That money will be saved, and we want that to be reinvested in other buildings for city climate goals," she said.
